Can the wisdom of the Buddha's Dharma be separated from the wisdom of worldly dharmas?

Ignorance (avidyā) means not understanding, not comprehending, including not understanding and not comprehending all dharmas of the ten thousand phenomena. The Buddhas have severed all ignorance completely; they comprehend all supramundane dharmas and also comprehend all worldly dharmas—there is not a single dharma they do not comprehend. Take any dharma within worldly conventions and ask the Buddha; there is no dharma that the Buddha does not comprehend or cannot answer. Therefore, if one is not versed in worldly conventions and does not know how to conduct oneself and handle affairs, that is ignorance, and one's understanding of the Buddha-dharma is likewise not thorough.

The Buddhas and the great bodhisattvas of the various bhūmis are not only versed in the Buddha-dharma but also simultaneously versed in worldly conventions. When they interact with sentient beings in the world, they understand the minds of sentient beings and understand worldly affairs; the choices they make do not go against worldly conventions, and thus they can broadly deliver sentient beings rather than being delivered by them.

To whatever degree one is versed in the Buddha-dharma, correspondingly one will be versed in worldly dharmas to that same degree. The Buddha-dharma and worldly dharmas complement each other; there is no such thing as accomplishing the Buddha-dharma apart from worldly dharmas. If that were possible, then the Buddha-dharma would have nothing to do with worldly dharmas, but in fact the Buddha-dharma has never been separable from worldly dharmas; it is intimately connected with them. The Buddha-dharma can effectively guide worldly affairs. If someone has very high wisdom in the Buddha-dharma yet runs into obstacles everywhere in worldly matters, it shows that this person is not actually versed in the Buddha-dharma and lacks genuine wisdom of the Buddha-dharma; the so-called wisdom is nothing but dry wisdom.

The great bodhisattvas of the various bhūmis, up to and including the Buddhas, can all serve in the world as ministers, high officials, monarchs, as well as wheel-turning sage kings and the lords of the various heavens. They are necessarily versed in worldly dharmas; otherwise, how could they serve as monarchs, wheel-turning sage kings, and lords of the heavens? How could they administer and govern the worldly affairs of sentient beings? How could they win the trust of the multitude and lead the assembly?

Wisdom is interconnected. Wisdom in the Buddha-dharma cannot exist independently apart from wisdom in worldly dharmas. The Buddha-dharma must be practiced within worldly dharmas; if one cannot put it into practice in worldly affairs, it shows that the Buddha-dharma has not been thoroughly understood either, so much so that it cannot be applied to worldly dharmas. All realization in the Buddha-dharma must be manifested through one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions in worldly affairs. If one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions have not transformed toward purity, and one handles matters imperfectly, it shows that this person's cultivation is still insufficient—the power of meditative concentration, the power of merit, and the power of wisdom are all inadequate. Therefore, there is no Buddha-dharma that can be manifested apart from worldly dharmas.